Supposedly romaine is one of the better lettuces. I have heard people say it is best not to give iceberg lettuce and that excessive amounts can cause diarrhea. I don&acute;t know if this is true, but for you it would probably be best to avoid iceberg lettuce and stick with the very green, leafy type lettuces (only 2 or three leaves a day).

I have problem with my computer. Sorry for the late response to your question, Lynx.

You can find Xtra C in the website of Oxbow. According to the instruction, 1 pallet per day should give sufficient Vitamin C to the guinea pig. It is very convient. Besides my guinea pigs like the taste and request the pallet every night.

Thanks for your advice in veggie. I will give less amount of veggie (not more than 2) if BB recovers totally.

At the moment, BB shows some sign of soft stool when I further reduce Avipro. (medicine addictive ???) I will try a few more days with reduction of Avipro. Where necessary, I will bring her to the vet again.

Hello my name is Tracey i have a 6-8 week old male piggy named neo, he started having diarrhea 2 days ago, i have been reading the things alison has been going through and wanted to know if these things would be ok for a piggy so young any infor would be helpful thanks .

Honestly, the best thing for you to do is to see a cavy-knowledgeable vet. But believe me, I know how hard it can be to find one.

I assume you&acute;ve extrapolated from this thread some of the things that can cause diarrhea and have ruled them out. Medications? Any new, fresh foods?

I&acute;ve only had pigs for about 2 years and knock wood, I haven&acute;t had very many problems with them, so I don&acute;t really have a guess as to what could be going on. But I figure that the smarty-pants (that&acute;s meant in a cheerful way) here will need a little bit more info from you to come up with a guess.

Is he on medication? Did you introduce the fresh food slowly? Where did you get him--pet store, breeder, rescue? Is he showing any other symptoms besides the diarrhea, as in weight loss, decreased appetite, lethargy, etc.?

From reading experiences of others, I&acute;ve learned that a single symptom can be the result of several different causes, so more information--no matter how minute it may seem--is needed in order get a clearer picture of what might be going on.

I can&acute;t remember what all was said but I would advise you to see a vet if his diarrhea is continuing even after removing fresh food.

Diarrhea can be extremely dehydrating and can be caused by parasites or bacteria or even stress. If he has a infection he will need an antibiotic. Your best bet is to see a vet before trying home remedies.

Thank you both soo much, i called the local vet to see what he had to say, i stoped the fresh foods right away, neo&acute;s sister carmella started with the runs as well, the vet said because there was a change in their food to try dri tail from pet store also from here i went and got them timothy hay, as well as feeding them a poopy from my 2 year old piggy (beazer) 1 poop per day right ? i am keeping the well piggy away from them just incase , and am looking into a piggy dr. for them i have never had trouble with the piggies in the past so ill learn as we go , again thank you soo much ill keep this updated !

This vet is NOT cavy knowledgable. For the sake of your pig, please find one that is.

Advising you to buy an over-the-counter remedy for a hamster ailment is inexcusable.

The following email from my files (Sat, 12 Feb 2000) is reprinted with permission from Tex Green, Guinea Pigs Online. People are free to contact him if they need clarification or have more questions Tex <Texg@cavyinfo.com>

The email was regarding a guinea pig with diarrhrea. The pet store advised giving the pig DriTail. Unfortunately the guinea pig died, most likely due to the delay is in getting competent veterinary care.

DriTail is a pretty much worthless &quot;over the counter&quot; product that is
usually sold for hamsters. By the time it takes a person to realize it is
not working, it is often too late to save the guinea pig&acute;s life. Get your
piggie to an experienced exotics vet as soon as you can! Diarrhea can be
fatal if it is not diagnosed and treated properly.

What form is the diarrhea taking? Is it just soft droppings, a watery mess,
or a black, foul-smelling watery mess? If it is the last, you need to get
her to a vet *immediately*, as it indicates a very serious intestinal
problem (it can be caused by a number of things: antibiotics, eating
spoiled [moldy] hay or vegetables).

If it is a milder case of diarrhea, and you piggie is still eating,
withhold all greens, and give plenty of hay. In addition, an electrolyte
replacer such as Pedialyte given by dropper can help (Gatorade can be used
as well; the sugar is not good for her, but you need to get fluids into
her). There is some kind of imbalance in her intestinal system; the
beneficial bacteria have been disrupted. Acidophillus powder (found in
health food stores) or a cc of yogurt (with &quot;live cultures&quot;) should be
given to help the digestive tract. There is also a product called
&quot;Bene-bac&quot; that I have used with some success (it&acute;s available in larger pet
stores, at the vet and at some online pet supply vendors). The best thing
to use is a crushed-up dropping or two from a healthy piggie. Yes, it
sounds gross, but it is natural for guinea pigs. Guinea pigs re-ingest
certain droppings (called &quot;coprophagy&quot;) to keep their digestive systems
healthy, as well as gain some nutrients that are produced in the cecum.
Although a &quot;plain&quot; dropping is not what a piggie would normally ingest, it
is certainly better than what the sick piggie has available.

What I normally do for a piggie with diarrhea is make a &quot;mash mix&quot;, using a
dollop of yogurt, a crushed dropping, some powdered food pellets and enough
Pedilyte to make it into a mash that can be drawn into an oral syringe.
(The total amount should only be about 5cc or so, as they usually don&acute;t
like the taste of it). If you can get your vet to approve the use of
Oxbow&acute;s Critical Care formula (have him call 1-800-249-0366), mix the
powder with some Pedialyte and either crushed dropping or Acidophillus
powder, and administer by syringe. The Critical Care is quite tasty; every
piggie I&acute;ve had to use it with loves it (a much better time is had by
all!). Do this at least three times a day (along with regular food and
water), and try and get water or Pedialyte into her as often as possible.

The suggestions I&acute;ve made should only be undertaken after you&acute;ve spoken
with a competent vet; they are not &quot;in place of&quot; a vet visit.

Please e-mail me any time if you have questions or concerns, and keep us
updated on your piggie&acute;s progress.

Unfortunately, the directions imply you have 7 days to see if this works and only then should you see a vet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding the second drug (not in dri-tail):
"The sulfa drug succinylsulfathiazole is itself inactive, but is converted by intestinal bacteria to sulfathiazole, which is an active antimicrobial agent. "

-- http://gastroresource.com/GITextbook/En/Chapter7/7-16.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------neomycin sulfate is sold "for the treatment and control of colibacillosis (bacterial enteritis) caused by Escherichia coli susceptible to neomycin sulfate in cattle (excluding veal calves), swine, sheep, and goats." I couldn&acute;t find anything on its efficacy.

Apparently in humans there can be all kinds of drug reactions:
NEUROTOXICITY (INCLUDING OTOTOXICITY) AND NEPHROTOXICITY
nerve destruction and total or partial deafness
Neuromuscular blockage and respiratory paralysis

Other factors which increase the risk of toxicity are advanced age and dehydration (a guinea pig that had diarrhea would be deydrated).

Thank you all for all your help , pinta i used the piggy mash in the article you posted, i also did not use the dri tail, i dident want to take the chance with them . i made sure they dident have any veggies either they both cleared up within 48 hrs of each other and have been doing fine since, i think it was the change in their diet, and beazer is very happy to have neo and camilla to play with . i am still looking for a good piggy vet , i fear im not having too much luck out here in the boonies, they mostly see cats , dogs, and live stock .
but ill keep looking . thanks again all.
Piggymom:)

A few weeks ago, I bought BB to the vet again (because the stool of BB again become soft if it is off Avipro). The vet examine again the stool. This time he found parasite inside the sample. He told me the parasite is a relative to Giadia but definitely not Giadia. He gave me a medine (name started with letter P...) for 5 days (0.12 mm dosage once per day).

After that, I bought BB to the vet again for re-examination of stool. The result is => no parasite found. Now BB is off all the medicine, though I still find her stool softer than the time she had no diarrhea.

I will bring her to the vet again the end of this week to double check if the parasite is really gone. Sometimes, parasites are just too small and may not be found easily.

Though I am an inexperienced owner, I believe &acute;great care&acute; is the best medicine to an ill piggie.

To pay safe, I will ask the vet to do one more examination on the stool end of this week.

To further elaborate, the stool is in good shape but a bit soft. BB has very good appetite and drinks normally (she consumed a lot of water when she had the diarrhea / parasites). I can only comment that there is very slow improvement. However, BB is doing better and better. I can tell from the brightness of her hair and weight.

I will post the result of stool examination after seeing the vet. Where possible, I will ask the name of the parasite last found in the stool.

Alison im glad to hear BB is doing better, i had gone back and read the last 4 pages when i was looking for help with Gizmo ( formerly Neo it just dident fit him) and seen all that you had gone through, i hope its smooth sailing for her from here on out . Gizmo and his sister carmella are doing fine i was very lucky, they are eating and drinking and playing around, and their stool is formed and solid. thanks again all .
piggy mom.